The History of Wales

The Window tax was abolished in England and Wales on 24th July 1851.

'Daylight robbery'

The Window Tax was first introduced in 1696, during the reign of William III, when Britain was burdened with expenses from The Glorious Revolution of 1688 and the costs of re-coinage necessitated by the miserable 'state' of existing coins, which had been reduced by clipping small portions of the high-grade silver coins. It was levied at two shilling on properties with up to ten windows, rising to four shillings for houses with between ten and twenty windows. It was extremely unpopular and to avoid paying the tax some houses from the period can be seen to have windows bricked-up.

The term 'daylight robbery' is thought to have originated from the window tax as it was described by some as a 'tax on light'.